Dad Kills Self After Son Dies

NORTH MIAMI — A guilt-ridden father who dared his son to carry out his repeated suicide threats then watched in horror as the son killed himself has taken his own own life, police said.

Abe Lifsey, 70, was removed from life-support systems and died at North Miami General Hospital on Monday, four days after shooting himself in the head with a .38-caliber revolver.

On Jan. 4, Lifsey handed a .38-caliber, snub-nosed revolver to his 40- year-old son, Barry and dared him to carry out his repeated suicide threats. As his father, mother and daughter watched in horror, Barry Lifsey fired a bullet into the right side of his head and fell, fatally wounded, in the family`s North Miami living room.

In sworn statements to police, family members said Barry Lifsey had never gotten over a divorce 11 years earlier and was troubled by the failure of his business.